


there's a place in my soul just for you

by back_in_a_bit



Category: Bleach, Soul Eater
Genre: Crossover, F/M, HKWeek2015, Weapon/Meister relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 06:37:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8276290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/back_in_a_bit/pseuds/back_in_a_bit
Summary: Karin is a Meister. Toushirou is her Weapon. Karin is not in love with Toushirou. Karin's always been terrible at lying to herself.





	

**Author's Note:**

> IT HAD TO BE DONE. I have no regrets. I only hope I have done justice to an awesome premise.
> 
> EDIT: Intended to smooth out the last bit. Ended up adding 2k words and a hot make out scene. So, it's all good, I guess. Still not totally happy.
> 
> Warnings: the fluff! It burns!

The pre-kishin's possibly the ugliest thing she's ever seen, but apparently looks - or lack thereof - is no indication of power. This one's not even top ten.

Karin blocks a blow from the blade on its back, her counterattack strong enough to push it off balance as she skips out of reach of its flailing limbs. Getting gutted by serrated blades that pass as fingers is not on her To-Do list today.

" _Finish it now!"_ the Dragon sword in her hand says urgently, and Karin charges, perfectly in sync with her weapon as she slashes through the pre-kishin with a hoarse battlecry.

The PK dissipates, leaving behind the bright red flame of its impure soul. Karin steps in front of the floating flame, watching the way it casts eerie shadows on the cobbled walkway. The street is completely deserted, the few people who'd be up at this hour long gone in face of the monster. 

"Good job, Toushirou," she says. Her weapon glows, and with a flash, the demonsteel in her hand is replaced with human skin and flesh and bone and blood.

"You too."

The messy white-haired boy steps forward, his hand slipping out of hers, and grabs the pre-kishin soul. Toushirou eats souls the way he'd eat hors d'eouvres at a five star restaurant, all neat and precise, chewing with his mouth closed before he swallows.

Karin watches his Adams apple bob and turns away, mouth suddenly dry.

"That's another one down, eh? Almost too easy," she says. She doesn't keep strick track, but she thinks they're close to two hundred pre-kishin. They hold the record in the EAT class.

"Our hundred and ninety sixth soul," Toushirou says, like he's reading her mind. But he's not, he just knows her that well after nearly seven years together.

"What do you think we'll do once we hit one ninety eight?" Karin stuffs her hand in her pockets and jerks her head in a 'come on' gesture. Toushirou automatically falls in step with her, and they begin the trek back to their apartment.

"What's special about one ninety eight?" he asks.

"It's twice ninety nine," Karin explains. "Remember when we hit ninety nine, Lord Death had just signed the treaty with the witches, so we couldn't get a witch soul? I was wondering if this time round we could hunt down some rogue witch or something and finally make you a Death Weapon."

"...Does it even work that way?" Toushirou muses. "Or would we have to give up all our souls to Lord Death and gather another ninety nine before we could reap the witch soul?"

Karin shrugs and rotates her shoulders, trying to alleviate some of the stiffness that comes with three hours of stakeout. "I honestly don't know. It just sucks that we can't make you a Death Weapon, you know? You're one of the best weapons in DWMA. You'd make an awesome Death Weapon."

Toushirou's expression doesn't change, but Karin can feel a thrum of pleasure at the praise from his soul through their bond. "A weapon is only as good as his meister," he says modestly.

Karin laughs and bumps hips with him, ignoring the hop-skip-jump her heart does at his words. "Smooth talker," she teases him. "C'mon, race you back home!"

Toushirou's empty protests mingle with her laughter and the sound of feet pounding on pavement, and echo off the stone walls of the buildings of Death City.  
_________________________________________________________________  
There is a routine in the Kurosaki-Hitsugaya household that was settled early in their partnership and, bar the end of the world or something equally drastic (like Karin's period), remains unaltered to this day.

Karin wakes up first and stumbles to the kitchen, switching on the coffeemaker before detouring to the bathroom to freshen up for the day. Once ready, she makes two cups of coffee - one with the barest splash of milk and the other 90% cream - just in time to greet a sleepy headed Toushirou, who's more grizzly bear than human at this time of the morning. Once he's ingested enough caffeine to give a normal person liver failure (because as much as he'll deny it, Mr Higher-Scorer-Than _-Maka-Albarn_ is not a morning person), Toushirou gets started on making breakfast while Karin gets dressed.

Depending on whether or not he's wearing a shirt, Karin takes either thirty seconds or four minutes to get ready.

Today he's wearing nothing but low-slung sweatpants and tousled bedhead. Karin's back in her seat at the kitchen table in record time.

"Urahara-sensei's taking a special class today," Toushirou remarks as he flips an omlette. "Do you remember?"

"Who could forget?" Karin snorts, propping her feet up on another chair. "It's not every day we get to learn about the _Last Freakin' Deathscythe."_

"And Maka Albarn." Toushirou transfers the omlette onto a plate and places it in front of her.

"Yeah. Those two are awesome together." Karin grins a little wistfully. "Did you know their Soul Resonance is the strongest ever recorded? Right off the scales!"

Toushirou makes a vague noise, his concentration on the frying pan. He already knows all of this (super smart, remember?), but he's letting her fangirl anyway. Karin finds this _sweet_ and _heart-melting_ and she vaguely wants to punch herself for that thought.

"I wonder if he'll show us their Witch Hunter move?" Karin wonders, twirling a fork idly. "I want to compare it with Ryūsenka." Ryūsenka is the special ability of the Dragon sword, and they'd damn near perfected the move by now.

"Why do you want to do that?" Toushirou asks, nudging her feet off the chair and sitting down to his own omelette.

Karin plops her feet in his lap and grins insolently when he raises his eyebrows wearily at her. "Maybe so we can make it even _more_ awesome than it already is?" she suggests.

Toushirou snorts and bends over his breakfast. Under the table, his thumb finds a pulse point on her ankle and rests hotly against it.  
_________________________________________________________________  
Karin turns a corner at DWMA and runs smack into someone. She tumbles back with a cry and falls into someone else.

Oh. This one's Toushirou, her ever-present shadow. She knows this because even with her nose throbbing from its recent impact she can recognise the crisp, musky scent that's unique to him.

Also, he'd been right behind her when she turned the corner.

Karin opens her eyes and for a confusing moment she thinks it wasn't Toushirou who'd caught her 'round the waist after all, because he's standing right in front of her. But then she realises this man has red eyes, not green, and he's older than any of the students at DWMA. It takes her another moment to realise who it is, and by the time she scrambles upright he's been joined by an ash-blonde girl.

"Soul, I told you to wait for me," Maka Albarn says crossly, because yes it's freaking _Soul Eater_ Karin'd run into, _was the universe freaking kidding her?_

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, you okay?" the Deathscythe asks her and Karin nods, a little lightheaded.

"You're Soul Eater," she says dumbly. Red eyes squint at her, and she can see him visibly reassessing her sanity. "And you're Maka Albarn."

Maka (Ms Albarn? Albarn?), who evidently has more manners than both her partner and Karin, smiles politely. "Yes. Are you two students from the EAT class?"

Karin stamps down the giddiness that comes with meeting two living legends. "Uh, yeah. I'm Karin Kurosaki, meister. And this-" She twists to gesture to Toushirou and realises his hand is still on her waist.

Well. He doesn't seem bothered by it so she's just going to, ah, not say anything.

"This is Toushirou Hitsugaya, dragon sword, and my partner."

Both Eater and Albarn raise their eyebrows at that. "As in, _the_ Dragon Sword?" Eater enquires, leaning forward with a bloodthirsty grin.

Right. Sometimes, Karin forgets Toushirou is a living legend in his own right.

Toushirou nods. "Pleased to meet you," he says smoothly, sounding completely unpeturbed. Only Karin notices the slight tension along their soul bond, and she feels herself start to bristle protectively in reaction.

Maka Albarn appears more interested in Karin, however. "Kurosaki, did you say? Any relation to the subsect of the Shiba Clan?"

Albarn might be something of an hero, but Karin still has to tamp down the urge to roll her eyes. Sometimes coming from a family of overachievers is a real pain in the ass. Her mother had been a five-star meister who made her father a Death Weapon, and her brother's partner, a petite black-haired lady who turns into a six-foot-tall cleaver, was made Death Weapon the same way just five years ago.

"Uh, yeah. That's the one," Karin mumbles.

Toushirou, who knows how much she hates being compared to her family, rubs his thumb in circles on her waist comfortingly and whoa he better stop doing that or else she's gonna be redder than the current Deathscythe's hair.

"Shiba?" Soul asks.

"They're a family of powerful weapons and meisters, like Tsubaki's, only more..." Maka trails off diplomatically.

"Crazy?" Karin suggests.

"I was going to go with 'radical'," Maka says, waving a hand in sheepish apology. A ring glints from her fourth finger.

"Cool," Soul grins, revealing hella sharp teeth. Karin is startled but grins back nevertheless. She gets the feeling Soul Eater would get along well with her family, though she'd like to see how he deals with her overprotective, hyper-enthusiastic Dad.

A cackling, wheezing laugh echoes through the hallways. None of them so much as start, though Karin used to jump every time she heard the bell in her first year here.

Maka glances up. "Soul, we'd better hurry. I'm sorry," she says to the younger weapon-meister pair. "But we came to visit Ms Marie, and we'd better get there before she gets too busy. Let's go, Soul!"

"Geez woman, I'm not your dog," the Deathscythe drawls, but he follows her obediently anyway.

It's not until they're halfway down the hall that Karin realises she's still staring.

Beside her, her weapon is practically vibrating with quiet amusement. "Pinch me," she mutters, only half-joking.

She's forgotten where his hand is. Karin yelps as Toushirou's forefinger and thumb squeeze the sensitive skin of her curves, and slaps his hand away. Toushirou's teal eyes dance with mirth, completely unrepentant. Against her will, Karin's heart skips a beat.

"Did you notice?" she says, hoping Toushirou doesn't notice how discomfited she is. Christ, the boy's smile should be made illegal. "Albarn was wearing an engagement ring." She jerks her head down the hallway. Albarn and Eater are walking closer together than is strictly platonic. As they reach the corner, Eater snags Albarn's hand and intertwines their fingers.

Toushirou shrugs, turning to watch the legendary pair disappear around a corner. "It's not unusual for strong weapon-meister pairs to be romantically involved," he says. She can see him watching her out of the corner of his eyes. Even indirectly, his gaze is piercing.

"Yeah." Karin licks her suddenly dry lips. Toushirou's hand is a warm presence on her waist, proprietary and familiar. His eyes flick down briefly when her tongue darts out, and Karin watches with fascination as his pupils dilate slightly.

Heat flares low and tight in response in Karin's belly, and she swallows, moving out of Toushirou's reach. She resolutely ignores the pang of loss as his hand slips away, focusing instead on the fact that she can breath easily once more.

Oxygen has never felt so unsatisfactory.

"We should, ah, we should get going. Don't want to be late for class." Coward, a voice in her head says snidely. She ignores that as well.

"Yes," Toushirou says blandly after a slightly-too-long pause.

Karin's footsteps echo dully in the empty hallway. Toushirou follows half a step behind, her ever-present shadow.  
_________________

The topic is dropped, but remains heavy between them the rest of the day. Karin finds herself watching the other pairs in the EAT class, looking for signs of romantic attachment. Ikkaku and Yumichika, are they sleeping together? Sentarou and Kiyone definitely are. Urahara-sensei, he's married to another meister, Yoruichi. What about their former senior Kensei, and his dual weapons Shuuhei and Mashiro?

Karin doesn't want to think about how _that_ worked out.

The silence remains thick and uncomfortable on their way home and makes Karin want to yell and scream. She also wants to flip off their dancing around the subject and find her missing courage and just say it already. She knows it's not uncommon for weapon-meister pairs to be romantically involved - her own family provides two glaring examples. She's left denial a long time ago. She's not blind either, she sees the looks Toushirou gives her. Just because she's not good at talking about this stuff, and even now wants to run far away rather than discuss this like mature adults, doesn't mean she doesn't want him, and not just in a climb-you-like-a-tree way, but in a wrap-your-soul-around-mine-and-never-let-go kind of way.

But the signals she's getting from Toushirou over the bond are - though she hates to admit it - making her want to shy away. He's pensive, almost broody, mixed with echoes of hurt from earlier today. The problem with a Resonance as powerful as theirs is that when one person feels really bad, there's a strong chance that it'll drag the other down as well. It's like a self-fueling self-destructive spiral. The best thing to do, her pragmatic half knows, is to withdraw from the bond and sort her own emotions out. But after the show in the corridor that morning, Karin can't stand the thought of closing herself off from Toushirou in any way.

He takes a deep breath the moment they enter the apartment, and Karin braces herself, but then the air is filled with a high-pitched shrieking and Toushirou is suddenly struggling to breathe as he is buried face-first in cleavage.

"Toushirou-chan! Karin-chan! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?!"

Karin feels strangely vindicated as she watches Toushirou slowly suffocate in the blonde's vice-grip hug. "Hey, Rangiku-san," she says cheerfully, toeing off her boots. "How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm a mess. The florist mixed up our order, and half the guests are on missions of some sort, and don't even get me started on seating arrangements..." Karin nods absentmindedly as she leads Matsumoto to their little kitchen, leaving a spluttering Toushirou in the hallway. A half empty cup of coffee sits on the dining table, showing the blonde has made herself at home in her wait.

Matsumoto used to live with them, back when they were first starting out as a weapon-miester pair. Karin freely admits that without the gregarious blonde the two of them would've slowly starved to death and/or strangled each other within the first six months. She's one of their closest friends. She's also responsible for the satin-and-lace lingerie collection hiding untouched in the deepest recesses of Karin's wardrobe ("Where they're gonna _stay,_ Rangiku, so don't wink at me like that."). Her boutique flourishing and her longtime boyfriend proposing led to Matsumoto moving out a year ago.

"And how's Gin?" Karin asks when Matsumoto pauses for breath. She catches the way her old friend's face lights up at the mention of her fiancé, and feels a momentary pang of wistfulness. Ichimaru may be a fox-faced bastard (and a damn good independent weapon) to the rest of the world, but no one can deny just how much the two love each other.

"Oh, Gin's been an absolute _angel_..." Matsumoto sits herself down at the table as Toushirou makes his disgruntled appearance in the doorway. Karin throws him a bottle of cold water from the fridge, grabs one for herself, and shrugs innocently when he shoots her a betrayed look. Matsumoto is a force of nature and Karin knows better than to get in her way.

"...so I need to know if I'm putting you down as plus ones or whether you're coming together." Matsumoto pauses expectantly.

"Hmmm, what?" Karin tears her eyes off Toushirou's throat as he drinks his water and focuses on the bride-to-be. Matsumoto gives her a knowing look. Karin flushes. "I mean, I haven't really thought about it."

They both turn to Toushirou, who starts and glances between them with a deer-in-headlights expression. "Uh-"

"Come on, Toushirou-chan," Matsumoto purrs, draping herself over the table. "There must be some pretty girl you've been wanting to ask out."

Toushirou's eyes instantly fly to Karin before he drops his gaze. Karin looks away, pulse racing, a flush climbing her cheeks. Matsumoto's eyes flick from one to the other, eyebrows somewhere near her hairline.

"No, not really," she hears Toushirou say quietly. Karin bites her lip, grateful for the flare of pain it brings her. It distracts from the grey-blue-misery of Toushirou's soul.

"We could go together, you know," Karin say carefully, aiming for and probably overshooting 'casual' by a mile. Toushirou and Rangiku look at her, startled, but Karin keeps her eyes fixed on her weapon's. Shrugs nonchalantly. Hey, just asking the love of her life out here. No biggie. Toushirou's eyes are wide with disbelief. A thread of fear makes her add, "If you want?" and fuck it, she can't quite hide the yearning in her voice.

"Yes." The quiet intensity in Toushirou's voice has warmth rushing through her. "Uh, yeah." He clears his throat awkwardly. "I mean, it's the most practical solution." Karin's not thinking much of practical now, when Toushirou's warm teal eyes are fixed on hers, a hint of a smile threatening on that handsome face.

"Uh, yeah." Karin clears her throat, valiantly ignoring the flush climbing her cheeks. "Makes perfect sense." She nods at a highly amused Matsumoto.

"Alright then," She could at least _pretend_ to hide her shit-eating grin. "A date it is!" And, completely ignoring the red disaster Karin's cheeks have turned into, Matsumoto drains the last of her coffee and stands up.

"Lovely! Now, I have to get going and catch that florist before he closes," She glides around the table to plant a wet one on their cheeks. "Karin-chan, don't forget, we have a fitting on the 19th." She bends down and lets her blonde hair obscure their faces from Toushirou. "Put that lingerie to good use, okay?" she whispers, and darts out of reach before Karin can form a foul enough expletive.

"Wait, you're leaving already?" Toushirou asks, startled.

Matsumoto ruffles his hair fondly, ignoring Toushirou's grumble of protest. "I'll see you both soon enough. 19th, Karin-chan!"

Once she is gone, a contemplative silence descends in the kitchen. Toushirou eyes his bottle with unwarranted interest. Karin wonders why everyone around them seems to be getting hitched. First Eater and Albarn, now Matsumoto. It's like the universe is sending them some sort of sign.

The universe, she decides, is a lousy matchmaker.  
________________________________________________________________  
That evening, Karin sits on the kitchen slab in shorts and an oversized T-shirt that was probably once Toushirou's, and watches him cook mac-n-cheese at her request.

There's an easy, practised intimacy to this age old routine of theirs. Way back in the beginning of their partnership - during what Karin likes to call the Dark Ages - one of the first lessons Toushirou ever learnt was that a) Karin couldn't cook worth shit, and b) she doesn't give a flying fuck about your sexist stereotypes, Hitsugaya, so if you want home-cooked food you can cook it yourself, or else hand her the damn take-out flyer and get the hell out of her way.

Karin doesn't call it the Dark Ages _only_ because their electricity bills were never paid on time.

But now, at the other end of seven years, Karin can't imagine a life without Toushirou. His soul is irrevocably intertwined with hers, two puzzle pieces which defy logic to fit together perfectly. They're superlative partners in field, a single entity in battle. . Yet there's something else beneath the surface, something they mutually comprehend but choose not to overtly acknowledge.

It's the something that makes their gazes linger so long that the other obviously notices. It's why, when they're watching the telly together, Karin curls up on the sofa and rests her head on Toushirou's hard thigh, and why he places his hand on her head and plays with her hair. It's why their hands remain clasped together for one second too long when Toushirou reverts from sword to human. It's something so terrifyingly powerful and at the same time utterly beautiful that it scares the fuck out of them both.

Karin is distracted by the sight of Toushirou's long fingers twisting the knob of the stove deftly. When Toushirou moves past her to the fridge to grab the butter, those same fingers brush absentmindedly against her bared knee.

Heat explodes in Karin's stomach.

In retaliation, she traps his leg between hers playfully, laughing when he shoots her an exasperated look. Toushirou reaches for her stomach, a wicked glint in his eye, and Karin hastily releases his leg and backs away.

"Okay, okay, fine!"

Karin squeals when her weapon's hands slide up her waist - to Karin's utter horror and pique, she is ticklish and Toushirou is not.

But then Toushirou stills, his hands resting lightly around her waist. Karin is practically vibrating in anticipation of the tickle and it takes her a moment to notice the other connotations of their position, Toushirou standing between her knees. For a single second her heart stops, and she stares at him, frozen.

But then Toushirou steps back and shoots her a victorious look more befitting (Karin) a five-year-old _\- made you look, made you stare -_ before turning back to the fridge, entirely oblivious to his unintended side effects.

Karin has to stamp down on the vicious urge to break something.

She wonders how everyone else in the world does it. There are so many happy couples out there. So many movies saying true love is attainable in ninety minutes. How do they manage the fear of . Aren't they terrified of pushing the one they love away by inaction or mismanagement or ill timing? She thinks of Eater and Albarn, barely any older than them but already so sure of what they want from life, from each other.

"Aren't they too young to be getting married?" she muses out loud.

"Not really. Matsumoto's, what, twenty eight? She's not that young," Toushirou says, attention on the cheese sauce.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Karin teases, kicking him lightly on the shin. "No, I was talking about Eater and Albarn. They're only four or five years older than us."

Toushirou shrugs. "Hey, drain the pasta for me, will you?" There's a moment of unwieldy waltzing as Karin tries to squeeze around him in their tiny kitchen. "Maybe it's because they're absolutely sure they want to spend the rest of their lives together. That they've found that one person," he continues.

Karin looks amusedly at him. "Wow, when did you get so romantic?" she snickers, never mind that her own thought were decidedly sappy not a minute ago.

"Shut up." Toushirou scowls despite the pink dusting his cheeks. He flicks cheese sauce at her when Karin continues to snigger. She throws macaroni at him in retaliation.

They work in silent tandem for a few moments. "But what if it doesn't work out? What if they were better off as friends? It would ruin their partnership," Karin says quietly. She's not talking about Soul and Maka anymore, but Toushirou doesn't appear to notice.

"They were friends long before they got romantically involved. They were friends when they defeated Arachne and Asura. That kind of bond doesn't die just because they don't work out, Karin," he says.

Karin watches her partner take two bowls out of the cupboard and set them on the table. The warm, familiar scent of melted cheese swirls around her and fills the kitchen. She reaches over to take two forks and a ladle out of a drawer. When she hands him the ladle, Toushirou absentmindedly squeezes her hip in thanks.

"But how do they _know?"_ Karin finds herself breaking the quiet. "How do you know you've found The One?"

Toushirou shoots her a look which says, _now who's the romantic?_ Karin scowls and silently tells him to answer the damn question.

"I don't know, Karin." Toushirou doesn't meet her gaze, his eyes fixed on the pasta he's carefully ladling into the bowls. "That's a chance everyone takes. That's what people do. That's _human_ , not to know, that's what makes us vulnerable. You just have to trust that they want to be with you, want the same things you want." He stops abruptly, as if he's only just realised his voice is rising with every word. He puts the ladle down, deliberately. It makes a soft _clanck_ against the wooden table. Toushirou still doesn't look up. "You have to trust them despite the fear," he says quietly. He might as well be shouting in the absolute silence resonating in the kitchen.

"I'm scared."

Karin waits until her partner looks up before she continues. "Hell, I'm fucking terrified. I'm scared about how much I care for you, I'm scared about whether you feel as strongly for me. I'm scared of what we could be together - if we were ever together in that way - and I'm scared of what might happen if it doesn't work out. I'm...especially scared of that, because I can't stand to lose you. But." She stops, takes a deep breath. These last six years, everything that has been building, in a way, to this moment. To this conclusion. "But-"

She steps forward, placing a hand on Toushirou's chest. Beneath the thin fabric, his heart beats in perfect sync with hers. She gets a glance of her partner's stunned, wide-eyed expression before she leans up and presses her mouth to his.

Toushirou doesn't respond. For a long, terrible moment he doesn't move, doesn't kiss her back. Karin's heart sinks like a lead weight - she didn't consider the possibility that he might not be ready for this - and she pulls back with a gasp. "I'm so sorry, I -"

Toushirou grabs her by the back of her head and crushes their lips together.

Karin's startled gasp is swallowed by Toushirou's low, fervent moan as he pulls her flush against his firm, lean body and slants his mouth further against hers. They stumble backwards and Karin registers a sharp pain in her hip as she crashes against a chair? the table? she doesn't care, Toushirou's kissing her desperately like she might disappear, one hand cradling her face as if she's the most precious thing in the universe. His other hand has found and discarded her hair tie and Karin shudders as he drags his fingers across her scalp.

Her back slams against the refrigerator and the loud _thud_ echoes through the house, but Karin has ears only for Toushirou's heavy, disjointed breathing and the way he's murmuring her name reverently between kisses. They pull apart once, twice, thrice, each time coming back for one last kiss, until Toushirou presses his thumb against her swollen lips and rests his forehead against her cheek.

"You mean it?" he asks, but Karin doesn't have the foggiest what he's talking about. She makes an indistinct noise, more interested in the hand that's managed to sneak up underneath his shirt and now rests between his shoulder blades on top of smooth, hot skin.Toushirou lifts his head and catches her eye. "Karin," he says insistently.

"Hmm?" Karin says. "Hell no, I'm not apologising for any of this."

One corner of Toushirou's mouth lifts up lazily, happy and amused. His thumb pets her bottom lip and his eyes darken as Karin's lips part beneath his fingers. "Before that," he whispers.

"Uh-" It takes real effort to think when Toushirou's looking at her like that. Karin wants to get back to the kissing. And the groping. She's all for getting to second base. But there's a vulnerable glint in his eye that makes Karin pause. "Yeah," she admits. "I meant it."

Toushirou relaxes. His smirk turns to a warm, genuine smile and Karin's breath hitches as she catches the full brunt of it. _Definitely illegal_ , she thinks hazily.

"Me too," Toushirou says, all deep-voiced and slightly abashed and _downright irresistible_. Karin is mortified to find her face heating up. She buries her face in his shirt with a squeak, and feels Toushirou's chest shake with laughter as his strong arms wrap around her. His soul curls around hers like a large cat, and Karin can feel his emotions as clearly as her own - happiness, pride, amusement, relief, desire - and something beautiful and powerful curling beneath it all which leaves her breathless if she looks at it directly.

Karin inhales happily, slipping her hands not-so-discreetly into his back pockets to tug him closer. Toushirou smells like he always does, crisp and musky and inviting. He smells like home.

"Hey," she says after several beats.

Toushirou grunts, holding her more tightly. "Having a moment here, Karin."

Karin wriggles until she can see his face. This is important, dammit. She needs to know. "Are you gonna get me a ring now?"

Toushirou stares at her. "Do you want a ring?" he asks.

Karin considers it. "Nah. I'd probably lose it in a fight," she decides.

A rumbling sound is coming from Toushirou's chest. Karin is fascinated by the discovery that she can _feel_ him laugh even as his face remains unchanged. "You never struck me as a ring type of girl, anyway" he drawls. His fingers are making distracting patterns on the nape of her neck.

Karin grins widely. "Yeah. And don't you forget it. Now, let's have dinner."

"Yeah."


End file.
